Aiding the Peace - A Multi-donor Evaluation of Support to Confict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities in Southern Sudan 2005–2010

In 2005 the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended 22 years of civil war between Southern Sudan and the North. Since then Southern Sudan has received substantial support from a broad range of development partners. Despite considerable levels of assistance the support to conflict prevention and peace building in Southern Sudan has only been partially successful. Donor policies and strategies did not take fully into account key drivers of violence resulting in an overemphasis of basic services and a relative neglect of security, policing and the rule of law, which are essential in state formation.

These are some of the conclusions of a multi-donor evaluation conducted between October 2009 and December 2010 on behalf of the largest donors in Southern Sudan including nine bilateral donors and six multilateral agencies. The evaluation looks at funding levels and the type of activities supported by donors under four main themes of socioeconomic assistance, governance, justice and local peace building.

The evaluation was led by the Netherlands, managed by a small Management Group comprising the evaluation departments in Denmark, Netherlands and the World Food Programme, and was undertaken by 16 international and national consultants from ITAD Ltd (UK) in association with Channel Research (Belgium).